1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contents using method, a contents using system, a contents using program, and a server and electronic device used in a same system and more particularly to the contents using method in which, contents such as image data or a like, after having been stored by the server, are transferred to the electronic device and are reproduced by the electronic device, to the contents using system to which the above contents using method is applied, to the contents using program to have a computer implement the above contents using method, and to the server and the electronic device making up the same system.
The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-143875 filed on May 17, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional contents using system chiefly includes a server such as a personal computer, workstation, or a like and a portable electronic device. The server employed in the conventional contents using system has a television broadcast receiving function of, after having performed signal processing on a broadcast wave or a CATV (Community Antenna TeleVision) signal received by an antenna, displaying its image on a display unit or outputting its amplified voice from a speaker. The portable electronic device refers to an electronic device to which power is supplied by a battery, dry cell, or a like, including a computer such as a notebook-type computer, a palm-size-type computer, a pocket-type computer, or a like, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a portable cellular phone, a PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) or a like. These portable electronic devices, though not having a television broadcast receiving function, have a reproducing function of displaying an image on a display unit by receiving image data through a cable, storage medium, or a like, and/or of outputting an amplified voice from a speaker. All servers to be explained thereafter are described on premises that they have the above-mentioned television broadcast receiving function and all portable electronic devices to be explained thereafter are also described on premises that they have the above-mentioned reproduction function.
In the above contents using system, conventionally, a user, when reproducing contents of image data of a television program or a like by using a portable electronic device, have to take procedures shown below. First, the user instructs a server to start a contents recording program and performs processing of presetting the contents using system to record contents that the user wants to watch and listen to and then has a storage device such as a hard disk or a like being embedded in the server or being added externally to the server store an image file of the contents.
Next, the user instructs the server to start a data format converting program in order to convert a data format and/or a data size of an image file of the contents being stored in the above storage device to a data format and/or a data size that can be reproduced by the portable electronic device. Since this causes the server to read the image file, the user checks, by operating the portable electronic device, a data format and/or a data size that can be reproduced by the portable electronic device and changes setting of the data format converting program based on a result from the checking process.
Therefore, the sever, after having converted a data format of an image file or a like according to change in setting made by the user, once stores the image file obtained by the conversion into a small-sized storage medium such as a flexible disk, SD (Secure Digital) memory card (trademark), memory stick (trademark) or a like. Then, the user, after having taken out the small-sized storage medium in which the image file obtained by the conversion are stored from the server and having inserted it into the portable electronic device, stores the image file obtained by the conversion into a storage device embedded in the portable electronic device and runs the contents reproducing program being stored in the storage device also embedded in the portable electronic device to reproduce the contents.
As described above, in the conventional contents using system, when the contents of image data such as a television program or a like are reproduced by the portable electronic device, the user has to perform various complicated procedures, which requires time and labor and which causes inconvenience as explained below.
Since the storage device embedded in the portable electronic device has too small a capacity to store an image file, in order to store a new image file in the storage device, it is necessary to delete image files or a like that have been stored before. In this case, since the user has to delete an image file while checking the image files or the like having been already stored in the above storage device one by one, it takes much time and there is a danger of deleting, by mistake, image files or a like that are needed.
Moreover, since there is a big difference in storage capacity between the storage device embedded in a server or added externally to the server and the storage device embedded in the portable electronic device, by converting a data format of the image file to a data format having a high image compression rate, it is necessary to make smaller a data size of an image file to be stored in the storage device embedded in the portable electronic device. An image compression method includes, for example, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 recommended by MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group) of ISO (International Organization for Standardization). The MPEG-2 (bit rate: 1 Mbps to 100 Mbps) is a specification being targeted on a high-level image and voice quality to be used in broadcasting, while the MPEG-4 is a specification (bit rate: up to 10 Mbps) made such that it may be applied to a multimedia, the Internet, and a mobile communication device in the future.
It is assumed that, after an image file is stored in a data format of the MPEG-2 in the storage device embedded in the server or added externally to the server, the image file is converted to a data format of the MPEG-4 and is then stored in the storage device embedded in the portable electronic device. The server has to make the conversion of the data format from the MPEG-2 to the MPEG-4, however, since it takes about one hour to convert an image file for a two hour television program from the data format of the MPEG-2 to the data format of the MPEG-4, a big load is put on a CPU (Central Processing Unit) making up the server. As a result, a problem arises that, when the user wants to use the server, an application program other than the data format converting program substantially becomes unusable.
Moreover, in the conventional contents using system, when the user, after having watched, to some midpoint, a program of which broadcasting time is comparatively long, for example, a movie, a drama, or a live program of sport having a long broadcasting time by using the portable electronic device, again wants to watch the same program from a point where he/she discontinued watching the program, he/she cannot watch the program unless its recorded image file is fast-forwarded to the point where he/she discontinued watching it from a point where he/she begun watching it. Also, in the conventional contents using system, if the user, after having watched, to some midpoint, a program by using the portable electronic device, wants to watch the same program by using the server from the point where he/she discontinued watching the program, or if the user, having watched, to some midpoint, the program by using the server, watches the same program by using the portable electronic device from the point where he/she discontinued watching the program, he/she cannot watch the program unless he/she manipulates the server or the portable electronic device to have an image file fast-forwarded to the point where he/she discontinued watching it from a start point of the image file.
The inconvenience described above also occurs not only in the portable cellular phone but also in a stationary-type electronic device whose storage device has small storage capacity and which, though not having the television broadcast receiving function, has such the reproducing function as explained above. An electronic device of this kind includes a personal computer or workstation having the television broadcast receiving function.